"Yoongi, I want you to be honest with me if anything is too much for you to handle, do you understand?"

"Yes," Yoongi told Dr. Kang.

Yoongi and Namjoon were at Yoongi's regularly scheduled appointment. Dr. Kang had been a bit distressed to hear that Yoongi had had his first encounter with the police without her being able to let him know what to expect first, but she was relieved that Yoongi wanted to sign the papers for her to be able to share whatever information he was willing to open up about with them.

"Can you tell me about the second incident? The one the police asked you about?"

Yoongi sighed as he looked down. "That was the first time we..."

Namjoon tensed. He knew he'd have to hear about this sooner or later, but he wasn't sure he'd ever be ready.

"It's okay, Yoongi, take your time."

They waited a few minutes until Yoongi collected himself enough to continue. "H-He'd been wanting to have sex for a long time, but I was scared. I'd never done it before, so I kept putting it off. He was pressuring me and getting more and more frustrated. I finally decided that we could do it that night, but then I..."

Dr. Kang waited patiently.

"I chickened out. We started and it hurt and I..." Yoongi took a deep, shaky breath. "I told him to stop."

Suddenly, Yoongi looked up and tears were running down his cheeks.

"I said no," he whispered.

"Then he should have stopped," Dr. Kang said.

"But... But he said that I'd already said yes before so he could keep going."

"That's not the case, Yoongi. Once you say no, the consent is gone."

"But – "

"I assure you, Yoongi."

"But he was my boyfriend. He said it was okay because we were together and we were in love."

"It doesn't matter," Dr. Kang said gently. "In fact, being in love is yet another reason he should have stopped. If he loved you, he would respect your wishes."

Yoongi looked up again. "But... He does love me."

Dr. Kang set aside her notebook and leaned toward Yoongi. She placed a hand on his knee and he met her eyes.

"Right?"

"No, Yoongi," Dr. Kang said as gently as possible.

"B-But..."

"I'm sorry, Yoongi," Dr. Kang said. "I'm so sorry."

It all seemed to hit Yoongi like a ton of bricks, and he finally truly broke down. He dissolved into a mess of anguished sobs, letting out heartbreaking wails and tortured cries.

He'd been beaten and raped. He'd been lied to, used and controlled.

And he'd allowed it to happen. He'd allowed himself to be thrown around like a piece of trash. And for what?

A love that wasn't even real.

Yoongi began taking breaths so shallow, he began hyperventilating. Namjoon rushed to his side, and Dr. Kang reminded Yoongi of his breathing exercises. Eventually, they got him calmed down enough to take deeper, more slightly controlled breaths.

"I-I...I...I'm so p-pathetic," he moaned.

"No, Yoongi," Dr. Kang said calmly. "You're coming to terms with the fact that Chul lied to you."

"He said he loved me. I believed him."

"He took advantage of your love for him, and used it to control you."

Yoongi sniffled. "I'm so stupid!" he cried as he began pulling at his hair. Namjoon quickly grabbed Yoongi's hands, gently taking them away from his head.

"No, you're not, Yoongs," Namjoon said. "You were in love. That's not stupid."

Yoongi tried to pull his hands away from Namjoon, but Namjoon held them down. "Yoongs, you have to stop punishing yourself."

Dr. Kang nodded. "He's right, Yoongi. You've been punished enough. You deserve better, and you need to be better to yourself. Otherwise, you'll never be able to move past this."

"He won't change?"

"No, Yoongs," Namjoon said gently. "He won't change."

"Not for you or for anyone else," Dr. Kang confirmed. "Chul is a predator. He likely doesn't even want to change."

"W-Why do I s-still love him?"

"Because you haven't come to terms with everything yet," Dr. Kang explained. "And that's okay. You will be able to move past this, Yoongi, but in your own time. And it's okay to take all the time you need."

Yoongi shook his head, but said nothing further. There was silence in the room for a few long moments.

"I'm here for you, Yoongs," Namjoon said eventually. "All the guys are. We'll help you. You'll never be alone."

-

In the days after his appointment, Yoongi became despondent. He wouldn't leave his room, choosing instead to lay in bed. When he wasn't sleeping, he was staring at the wall as though it would give him the answers and strength he needed to begin to become himself again.

Namjoon brought Yoongi food, and had to force him to eat. But Yoongi would always almost immediately throw it up. Eventually, when he would give in and eat, he was surviving on nothing but crackers and dry toast. It was all he could keep down.

There finally came a day where Namjoon wouldn't be able to be at the apartment with Yoongi. He was at risk of losing his job due to how much time he'd taken off to care for Yoongi, though he'd never tell Yoongi that. He knew Yoongi would only feel guilty, which would only make his despondency worse.

But Namjoon knew that Yoongi shouldn't and couldn't be alone, and so he called the person he thought Yoongi would want to be with the most.

"Yoongs, I have to go to work today," Namjoon said when he brought Yoongi his daily toast. "It's an important day, otherwise you know I'd stay here with you."

Yoongi didn't respond.

"I don't want you to be alone, so – "

"Hey, Yoongi," Jungkook interrupted. "Is it okay if I stay with you today?"

Yoongi didn't respond and Namjoon sighed. "Jungkook is going to hang out and watch some movies."

"I'd like it if you joined me," Jungkook said. "But I understand if you don't feel up to it. But just know I'll be here."

There was still no response. Jungkook and Namjoon shared a look. "I'm gonna go, Yoongs. I'll be back as soon as possible, okay?"

Jungkook followed Namjoon into the living room. "He'll likely stay in there all day, but I really appreciate you staying with him. It makes me feel better to know he won't be alone."

"It's no problem," Jungkook said. "I'm happy to hang out. I'll probably just order a pizza and chill."

Namjoon nodded. "Okay, then I'll get going," he said. "If you need anything, just give me a call."

"Will do."

After Namjoon left, Jungkook approached Yoongi's room again.

"Hey, I'm going to order a pizza. I was wondering what kind you like, just in case you want some."

Again, there was no verbal response, but Jungkook did see Yoongi's shoulders briefly move up and down in a shrug. Jungkook smiled. It was something.

"Okay, no worries. I'll let you know when it gets here."

A couple of hours later, Jungkook was sitting on the couch watching Iron Man. The half eaten pizza sat on the coffee table, and Jungkook was just about to clean up when he heard Yoongi's bedroom door open. Jungkook froze.

A few moments later, Yoongi appeared, wrapped in a blanket. He wordlessly sat down on the opposite end of the couch from Jungkook and stared at the TV. Jungkook didn't dare move or try to say anything. It was obvious Yoongi didn't want to talk, but it was huge progress that he had come out of his room. Jungkook didn't want to do anything to cause Yoongi to retreat back to it.

And so they simply sat for the next couple of hours, watching the Iron Man movies, one after the other. Yoongi never made a move to eat anything, nor did he ever open his mouth to say anything. But Jungkook was so pleased Yoongi had come out of his room, that he didn't mind.

They stayed that way until Namjoon returned home from work. When he opened the door, his eyes widened at the sight of Yoongi on the couch. Yoongi wasn't phased and never looked away from the TV, but a giddy grin spread across Namjoon's face just the same. He looked at Jungkook, who beamed back at him.

"Hey, guys," Namjoon said. "How was your day?"

"Pretty uneventful," Jungkook said. "We've just been watching some movies and hanging out."

"Sounds fun," Namjoon replied. "I'm glad you guys could do that together."

"It's been cool," Jungkook said nonchalantly.

"I'm glad." They once again smiled at each other.

"I'm gonna make some dinner soon. You wanna stay?" Namjoon asked Jungkook.

"Sure, that sounds great!"

"Do you want some dinner, Yoongs?"

Yoongi didn't look at Namjoon or say anything, but he nodded. Namjoon's eyes widened again.

"Okay, I'll let you guys know when it's ready!"

And a little while later, the three of them sat around the living room, Yoongi never having moved, and ate dinner. Namjoon and Jungkook chatted about Namjoon's day and, besides Yoongi never speaking, it felt normal. Namjoon was so grateful, and silently decided he would be having Jungkook come over more often.

When they were all done, Yoongi got up, placed his plate in the sink in the kitchen, and went back into his bedroom. Namjoon held his breath for the next few moments, but Yoongi never came back out to rush to the bathroom. He had kept the food down. Namjoon sighed in relief.

"This has really been an amazing day," he said quietly, tears filling his eyes. "Thank you, Jungkook."

"Happy to be here. You want me to come over again tomorrow?"

"Yes, please."

-

It became something of a habit. Namjoon and Jungkook worked with their bosses at their respective jobs to be working opposite days of each other. That way, when Namjoon couldn't be at home with Yoongi, Jungkook could and vice versa.

Their other friends would come over, of course, and Yoongi did sometimes come out of his room when they were there. But there was something about Jungkook (and Namjoon thought he might just know what it was) that pulled Yoongi out of his reverie more often. Yoongi never missed a day when Jungkook was there.

And Jungkook was oblivious, which Namjoon thought was probably a good thing. Jungkook just knew something about his presence was comforting to Yoongi, and he was just happy to help.

One day, Namjoon and Jungkook both had a day off, and Namjoon invited all of the other guys to come over. He'd knocked on Yoongi's door and told him as much, but Yoongi didn't respond. It wasn't until Jungkook got there and spoke a couple of times that Yoongi appeared. As per usual, he was wrapped in his blanket, and he sat on the end of the couch where he always did. He didn't say anything, and kept his eyes trained on the program playing quietly on the TV.

But today would be different, and none of the guys were prepared for it.

Seokjin came with a plethora of lame dad jokes as he usually did. He cracked one that, surprisingly, caused a few of the guys to snicker rather than groan. And it was Namjoon who noticed first.

Yoongi laughed.

It was more like a silent chuckle, but the corners of his mouth turned up very briefly and his body shook slightly for a moment. He didn't look away from the TV, but it solidified Namjoon's suspicion that Yoongi was always listening to their conversations. It made Namjoon giddy, realizing that Yoongi was, indeed, still wanting to be a part of the group.

Namjoon walked over to Yoongi and sat down on the arm of the couch next to him. "Hey, Yoongs," he said quietly. "How are you feeling?"

It took a few moments, but Yoongi eventually shrugged. Namjoon was thankful the small progress was continuing.

"Do you wanna join in on the conversation? Everyone wants to hear your witty input."

Yoongi slowly shook his head once.

"Well, as long as you keep being a part of the group, even if you're silent, I won't pressure you, okay?"

There was a single move of his head - a slight nod. Namjoon smiled.

"I hope you feel even better soon, Yoongs. I miss you."

Namjoon then left him alone. They all ordered take away, which Yoongi also ate, and then eventually began to trickle out as the day got later. Soon, it was only Yoongi, Namjoon and Jungkook left.

Namjoon and Jungkook were chatting about work, talking about things like annoying customers and lazy coworkers, when Yoongi suddenly stood. He turned his back on them and then, as he walked away, they heard very, very quietly...

"I'm going to take a shower."